Ribbon cables are a standard component in computer hardware. A series of conductors, which conductors may be flat, round and/or a combination of both, are extruded or laminated with a polymeric material as an integral piece with the conductors and ground wires encapsulated in the polymer. The polymer or insulation maintain the conductors in parallel spaced apart relationship. The ribbon conductors are designed to minimize cross talk, to control impedance within predetermined limits and to maximize signal speed. In ribbon cables, the number of signal lines can range anywhere from 9 to 64 with each line having a ground line on either side resulting in a configuration of a ground line, a signal line, two ground lines, a signal line, two ground lines, etc. Before a ribbon cable is secured to a connector, the ends are stripped, the ground lines are deflected in one direction, either upwardly or downwardly, and connected to a common buss and the signal lines are deflected in the other direction, either upwardly or downwardly, and connected to the desired pins in the connector.
The present invention is directed to a ribbon connector which is structured and functions as a one- or two-paired speaker cable.
Current speaker cables comprise a pair of insulated round conductors having terminals at their ends, which terminals are connected to audio components in a sound equipment system.
Broadly the invention is a ribbon connector which comprises two sets of flat conductors encapsulated in a polymeric material (insulation) and in the preferred embodiment, encapsulated in clear fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP). Each of the sets is spaced apart from one another by a medium strip of insulation. This medium strip has a width greater than the thickness of the insulation between adjacent conductors in a set. This allows the sets to be separated from one another when a terminal is placed on each set, i.e. the first set is physically separated from the second set, without exposing the conductors and/or affecting the electrical characteristics of the cable. At least one side of the cable is characterized by a polarity stripe. The conductors of a set function as a single conductor in that when used they are joined to a single terminal.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the conductors are copper and the FEP is clear and a polarity stripe of a color distinct from the FEP and copper conductors is used. This provides an aesthetically attractive ribbon cable which can function as a decorative feature of a sound system. Alternatively, because of its flatness, the cable is easily placed under a rug or may lay flat against a wall. Surprisingly, because of the design of the speaker cable, it has a much better current carrying capacity than prior round paired conductors. In the preferred embodiment, with a four conductor configuration for each set, the amount of copper used for the four conductors is that which would be required for a round, single conductor of 16 gauge. However, because of the geometry of the four flat conductors, the set of conductors has the current carrying capacity of a 12 gauge round conductor. In addition to reducing the material requirements for this current carrying capacity, the configuration also has superior capacitance and inductance characteristics.